NHL In Europe?

In what is arguably one of the most popular of the main professional sports (outside of soccer) in Europe, is the game of hockey. As per reports published by major sports television conglomerates; TSN and Sportsnet. A report given by the Globe and Mail stated that the NHL has publicly announced the possibility of expanding to teams overseas. Seemingly overnight, this speculation has spawned garrulous debate about possible expansion; from newspaper articles to blog pages across the continent. Although they do not expect that this expansion has an adequate timeline, the NHL expects the possibility of it materializing within the next 10 years.

Now why would Bill Daly and the NHL make this public? It is certainly not an important topic for the time being and when considering the current state of the NHL it emphatically strikes one as superfluous. Are they gauging the reaction from fans and players alike? Do they want to put increased pressure on the newly-formed Kontinental Hockey League (KHL)? There are many questions surrounding this new hot-button issue, queries that I have no intention of answering without any amount of hard evidence. But that is why there is always speculation.

Since ratifying the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), there have been an increased number of games played in Europe every year. There is no doubt that hockey takes precedent over many other sports in Europe as seen by fans in London booing the latest NFL game played at the O2 Center and seemingly would be supported immensely by fans of the game overseas. Hockey tournaments that take place across the Atlantic always have the arenas buzzing with a myriad of fans. With approximately one-third of the players in the NHL from European countries, on paper it’s not difficult to imagine how this abovementioned statement could someday become not only an option but a reality in the near future.

While I do believe that this announcement is certainly laudable, in reality it is hard to believe that this option becomes a certainty in the foreseeable future. As we know, just five years ago, the NHL was engrossed in turmoil as they were the first professional sports league to fold for an entire season due to a lockout. Despite the tumultuous years preceding it, the NHL over the past few seasons has become very renascent. Under the new CBA, it is beginning to come into its own. But are they really ready to become the first of the four main professional sports leagues to expand overseas especially when one considers the fact that the CBA is in its final year?

With 30 teams existing in the NHL already, only the National Football League boasts more than 30 franchises in its league with 32. So where does that leave the NHL in terms of expanding? If expansion into Europe is agreed upon, my estimation is the NHL would have to set up a minimum of 6 franchises overseas, as having one or two would not be sufficient. Let’s take a moment and speculate which cities in Europe would be a viable destination for hockey franchises. Moscow, St. Petersburg and Omsk in Russia would be risky because of the KHL, but would still be high on the favored list. In other popular hockey markets such as Scandinavia; Stockholm, Sweden and Helsinki, Finland would surely be options. In Eastern Europe; Prague, Czech Republic and Bratislava, Slovakia are highly sought after hockey markets. These are cities in which hockey takes a high precedent over other sports and all posses populations above the one million mark. The reason I do not account for megalopolis’ London and Paris, because hockey undoubtedly takes a back seat to soccer (or football) in those cities, although they certainly have the population to support a franchise.

Now, another burning question; do these speculated teams expand into the league or expand via relocation? Which teams are in danger of losing their franchise? It’s been long hypothesized that Southern cities in the United States such as the Nashville Predators, the Atlanta Thrashers and the Tampa Bay Lightning to name a few, have been in danger of relocation. But as long as Commissioner Gary Bettman has any say, those teams are not going anywhere, as he seems hell-bent on auspiciously promoting hockey in the Southern United States. Under his watch, he has admirably attempted to endorse hockey to lesser known markets and has in sorts become his legacy. So I strongly believe he is objurgating relocation as a feasible option. So where does that leave them, 36+ NHL franchises? In the interest of time and space, I will refrain from trying to meticulously break down that nightmare of a schedule.

Carolina Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford brought up a very good point in his comments to the Globe & Mail. He went on to say that if the NHL was looking for expansion or relocation, they would be wise to stay in North America. I am inclined to agree with this. Not to sound overly patriotic, but this league is severely lacking in Canadian teams. There are a plethora of cities and untapped markets up and down the 49^th parallel that yearn for a hockey franchise. One city that comes to mind is the once beloved Winnipeg Jets franchise. I’m sure fans in Manitoba and people all over the country would relish the reincarnation of the once storied franchise. It has been widely speculated that the province of Ontario could support many more than the current two teams that it hosts. The city of Toronto could be a possible destination for a second franchise, although it is unforeseen how the Toronto Maple Leafs brass and fans alike would react to this doppelganger. Research In Motion guru Jim Balsille has vehemently tried to relocate a team to either Kitchener or Hamilton in an attempt to feed off of Canadian team success, the new CBA and the high Canadian dollar but to date it has been in vain. I have a feeling that because the aforementioned Balsille was so ostentatious when attempting to create another Canadian franchise, he will have an uphill battle should he ever try again. Fantasizing, I could not envision another way of going about it though. He was trying to prove to the high-ups in the NHL that Canadian teams will work, especially under the CBA. Canadian team hopefuls need men and women like this, people that will stop at nothing to bring another franchise to Canada, one that is long overdue.

While the prospect of the NHL in Europe is exciting, not only for the economics of the game, but for promotion as well, it is simply inchoate to even remotely discuss the possibility of an overseas expansion. There are too many questions surrounding the issue, ones that even the NHL may have difficulty trying to fulfill. In addition to the abovementioned questions, there are a myriad of others; how do the economics work? Can and will fans in European cities pay NHL prices for tickets? Is the travel going to be too difficult for the players? How would it change the playoffs? These are just some of the many issues that they will have to tackle in order to make this proposed transition successful. The truth is it’s difficult to gauge the effects of expansion into Europe, as the NHL would serve as a guinea pig to this experiment and it is unknown what the affects may be. I understand that in recent years the NHL has been in peril and are desperately trying to promote the game. And what better way to do it than to be the first to expand to a different continent? But the NHL needs to reach a state of reliable economic stability and establish itself as more of a perennial powerhouse amongst major sports at ‘home’ first. Fans in America will undoubtedly remember two years ago when networks continually interrupted NHL playoff games for horseracing, NASCAR and even poker. At the risk of sounding redundant, the NHL must ascertain fans here on this continent before they even consider crossing the Atlantic.

Until next time,

Alex Fineberg